Baling-press.



H. L. WHITMAN.

BALING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.25, 1910.

Patented Au 16, 1910.

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H. L. WHITMAN.

BALING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.25, 1910.

967,594. Patented Augalfi, 1910.

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Inventor;

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H. L. WHITMAN.

BALING PRESS.

APPLIOATION FILED IEB.25, 1910.

Patented Aug. 16, 1910.

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H. L. WHITMAN.

BALING PRESS.

1 Patented Aug". 16, 1910.

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11.1mm hman Abb'Y HENRY L. WHITMAN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

BALING-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 16, 1910.

Application filed February 25, 1910. Serial No. 545,830.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. WHITMAN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Bailing-Presses, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

My present invention relates in part to the power mechanism of a balingpress with means provided therein whereby the plunger and pitman may berestricted after pressing a charge of material being baled and thefeeder may be operated by the same power mechanism as that by which theplunger is operated.

The invention also relates to certain fea tures of novelty in thefeeding mechanism, the press hopper, and means by which the feeder maybe elevated through the medium of the plunger in the event of necessityfor action of this description.

Figure I is a top or plan view of a baling press containing myimprovements. Fig. II is an enlarged vertical longitudinal sectionthrough the baling box and the hopper above it. Fig. III is an enlargedperspective view of the device coiiperable with the plunger, and bywhich the feeder may be elevated. Fig. IV is an enlarged side elevationof the baling box, the hopper above it, and the feeding mechanism. Fig.V is an enlarged view, similar to Fig. IV, looking at the opposite sideof the press. Fig. VI is an enlarged top or plan view of the press atthe power end. Fig. VII is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig.V, with one of the ground wheels omitted. Fig. VIII is an enlargedperspective view of the feeder head.

In the accompanying drawings :1 designates the baling box of my press,which is surmounted by a feed hopper 2 that is open at the end farthestremoved from the feeder that operates in the hopper and by which thecharges of material to be baled are delivered into the baling box.

8 designates the plunger that is operable in the baling box and which iscarried by a pitman 4 that has a head 5 located at its rear end andadapted to be engaged by the power mechanism of the press.

' Thearms 16 and At the rear or power end of the press is an axle 8 thatis supported by ground wheels 9 and which in turn serves as a supportfor members to be hereinafter more particularly mentioned, as well asfor a supporting plate 10 on which the pitman head 5 is adapted to ride.The baling box and the axle 8 are connected by a reach 11.

12 designates a sweep shaft supported in a vertical position abovetheaxle 8 and to the upper end of which is secured a sweep head 13adapted to be operated in the usual manner. I desire to here drawattention to the fact that the sweep head 13 in my baling press isutilized solely for the purpose of impartingrotation to the sweep headshaft 12 instead of having any other function, such as that of impartingmovement to other members of the power mechanism. This is highlydesirable for the reason that the sweep, head is sometimes looselyarranged upon its shaft, or becomes loose thereon due to wear, and wherethere is any such looseness there is resultant wabbling or untrueoperation of the sweep head in a circular path that prevents its actingsatisfactorily to operate movable parts that are located aside from thesweep head shaft.

11 designates a power head fixed to the sweep head shaft to operatetherewith, and in whichis mounted anti-friction rollers 15. The powerhead also carries a pair of arms 16 that in turn carry anti-frictionrollers 17. In the operation of the press, the rollers 17 act, byengagement with a flange or lip 7 projecting upwardlyfrom the pitman 5to impart initial forward movement to the pitman 4, after which therollers 15, by engage ment with the rear end of the pitman or plungerhead act to complete the forward movement of the pitman and the plunger.their anti-friction rollers have a dual function, and their utility, inaddition to the one just stated, will hereinafter appear.

18 designates a post surmounting the plate 10 that is supported by theaxle 8 and which is reduced at its upper end to provide a journal. i

19 is a lever journaled to the post 18 and provided with a cam arm 20adapted tobe engaged by the anti-friction rollers 17 of the arms 16. Thelever 19 also hasan arm 21 that extends over the pitman 4 and to whichis pivotally connected a pull rod 22. At the forward end of the pull rod22 is a slotted head 23 that is loosely fitted to a headed pin 24 thatis carried by the pitman 1, this slot and pin connection between thepull rod 22 and the pitman providing a loose connection between the pullrod and the pitman in order that they may, at certain times, operatefreely with respect to each other and without liability of breakage ofthe connection between these members. During the forward movement of thepitman 4; and the plunger to which it is connected in the act ofcompressing a charge of material being baledin the baling chamber of mypress, the pitman is actuated by the members hereinbefore mentioned andthe pin 24: moves forwardly in the slotted head 23 of the pull rod 22until it reaches the forward end of said head, after which it acts to somove the lever 19 as to carry its cam arm 20 into a position to beengaged by one of the anti-friction rollers 17 which is later to bebrought into action against said cam arm for service in actuating thelever 19 and the pull rod 22 to retract the pitman and plunger. In orderthat the lever 19 may act to retract the pitman and plunger with greaterefficiency during the initial period of retraction of the pitman andplunger and with less expenditure of power than would be the case if theretracting action was secured through the medium of the pull rod 22only, I provide upon the pitman or its head 5 an abutment 25, (see Figs.I and VI). This abutment is so positioned as to be engaged by the leverarm 21, in order that said lever arm, when moved rearwardly, may actthereagainst for the purpose of retracting the pitman during the initialperiod of its return stroke, and it will be readily apparent that,inasmuch as the abutment is located closer to the fulcrum of the lever19, said lever is enabled to exert greater power for the retraction ofthe pitman and plunger when the arm 21 is acting against the abutmentthan is derived later when the pull rod 22 is brought into action forthe retraction of the pitman. I, therefore, by the construction stated,apply a maximum of power for the retraction of the pitman and plunger atthe time when it is most needed; namely, at the beginning of the returnstroke, and, by the use of the pull rod 22 which is connected to thelever arm 21, at its end which has the greatest travel, I provide forthe pitman and plunger being retracted with a rapid movement during theremainder of the return stroke, following the initial movement.

The power mechanism of my press includes in addition to the mechanismhereinbefore described means for actuating the feeder of the press andwhich comprises a lever 26 that is journaled to a vertical shaft 27surmounting the supporting plate 10 and which has a rear arm that isadapted to be engaged by the anti-friction rollers 15 carried by thepower head 141;. The shaft 27 has a forward arm 28 that extendstransversely of the pitman 1 and to which is pivoted a pull rod 29 inwhich is located a spring 30 to afford resiliency therein. The pull rod29 leads to a point in proximity to the baling box 1 and has attached toit a chain 31, by which the feeder that is operable to carry charges ofmaterial to be baled into said baling box is operated, as will presentlyappear.

32 designates a rock shaft suitably supported by the baling box 1 and towhich is fixed the feeder of the press, comprising an arm 33 having afinger 33 extending at an angle relative to the body of the arm and ahead A. The rock shaft also has fixed to it a lever 35 to which thechain 31 attached to the pull rod 29 is connected at one point, in orderthat the shaft may be rotated to operate the feeder in a downward coursein the hopper 2 above the baling box to carry charges of material to bebaled into the baling chamber. Return of the feeder after it hasperformed its oflice of carrying a charge of material into the balingbox is accomplished by a retracting spring 36 having connection at oneend to a fixed part of the press and having its other end connected tothe lever 35 at a point aside from that at which the chain 31 isconnected to said lever and so located as to provide for the retractingspring being placed under tension when the feeder is lowered.

I now wish to direct particular attention to the feeder head used in mypress. This feeder head is pivoted to the feeder arms 33 at 37, and isfree to partake of a limited degree of movement with respect to thefingers 33 of the feeder arms which extend at approximately right anglesrelative to the bodies of said arms, and are confined within the feederhead. The feeder head is normally maintained in an outwardly project--ed position relative to the fingers. The object in so mounting thefeeder head is to provide for the feeder head extending forwardly andoutwardly relative to the feeder arms 33 more nearly toward a pointinalinement with the feeder arms, so that as the feeder descends in thehopper of the baling press, the feeder head will move in an .arc of acircle extending to a greater distance from the axis on which the feederturns than such feeders usually do, and whereby the feeder is permittedto operate with a more extensive sweep than ordinarily.

A further object in this construction is to provide for the feeder headacting to carry the material into the baling box with more of a backwardmovement than is ordinarily occasioned in the operation of the feedersof baling presses, this backward movement being considered as one towardthe plunger of the press. This backward movement of the material isoccasioned by reason of the fact that, as the feeder head descends inthe hopper toward the baling chamber, its outer face, by riding againstthe material with which it comes in contact, causes the feeder head tobe swung inwardly against the action of the spring a and, as thismovement is toward the plunger, or the rear end of the baling chamber,the material being carried by the feeder is conducted toward saidplunger. The material is, therefore, much more effectively carried intothe baling chamber to be acted upon by the plunger as it moves forwardlyto perform its oflice.

Another feature of improvement in the feeder of my press lies inthe useof an aux-' iliary feeder head B carried by the feeder arms 33 andlocated back of the feeder head A. This auxiliary head comprises a pairof arms 33 pivoted to the feeder arms at 33*, and provided with stoplugs 33, which act to limit the degree of swinging movement of said arm.It also comprises a cross rod 33 that connects the free ends of theforwardly extending arms 33*. As the feeder of the press descends toperform its oflice, the auxiliary feeder B acts upon the material in thehopper of the press back of the main feeder A to depress such materialmore efl ectually into the baling chamber than it would be if acted upononly by the main feeder. The auxiliary feeder is pivoted to the arms ofthe feeder in order that it may descend in a straight line in enteringthe baling chamber, but at the same time be susceptible of a forwardswinging movement to adjust itself toward a forward position, aspressure is imparted to the material being baled by the advancingplunger of the press.

As previously mentioned herein, the hopper 2 is open at one end. At thisend of the hopper is located a movable closure 38 comprising an end walland side walls that span the side walls of the hopper proper. Theclosure member is pivotally supported at 39 and is adapted to moveinwardly from an outward position to render the hopper a contractibleone in order that, after the material to be baled has been placed in thehopper preceding the descent of the feeder, the interior area of thehopper may be lessened and the material be more efficiently deliveredthrough the decreased area of the hopper into the baling box. To providefor the contraction of the hopper being automatic so that thecontraction takes place just before the feeder descends to perform itsoflice, I furnish means for operating the closure member 38 that iscooperable with the feeder. This means comprises a connecting rod 40pivoted at 41 to the closure member and pivoted at 42 to onearm of thelever 43 that is pivotally supported at 44. The other arm of the lever44 contains a slot 45.

46 is a crank arm fixed to the rock shaft 32 that carries the feeder andwhich is provided with a stud 47 that is operable in the slot 45. Itwill be readily understood that when rotation is imparted to the rockshaft 32 to lower the feeder, movement in an arc of a circle is impartedto the stud 47 and that this stud, by traveling in the slot 45, soactuates the lever 43 as to cause it to exert a pull upon the connectingrod 40 whereby the closure member 38 is swung toward the slot properwith the result of lessening the area therein, in order that the feedermay depress the entire charge of material that has been introduced intothe hopper, even though this charge may be greater than that ordinarilyplaced in baling press hoppers and which must necessarily be regulatedin the absence of an adjustable slot member, according to the amount ofmaterial the feeder is susceptible of acting upon.

Contraction of the charge of material introduced into the hopper of thepress is further provided for by a presser plate 48, (see Fig. II),which is pivotally supported at 49 and is pendent with the rear end ofthe hopper adjacent to the feeder. This presser plate is provided with acam 50 that is adapted to be engaged by a stud or roller 51 carried bythe arm of the feeder and through the medium of which the presser plateis moved from the position shown in full lines to the position shown indotted lines Fig. II when the feeder is lowered to carry the charge ofmaterial into the baling box. 7

It sometimes happens in the use of a baling press that the feederactuating mechanism becomes broken or impaired and, as a consequence,the feeder head is permitted. to remain ina lowered position after ithas performed its office and is, therefore, in the path of travel of theplunger of the press to be damaged thereby during the forward stroke ofthe plunger. To avoid an occurrence of this kind, I provide meanswhereby the feeder may be elevated through the medium of the plungerduring the forward stroke of the last named member.

52 is a plate surmounting the plunger 3 and carried thereby. This plateis provided with an aperture 53 and mounted thereon, at the location ofsaid aperture, is a spring tongue 54, the free end of which normallyextends upwardly above the plane of the plate and is adapted to belowered into the aperture therein.

55 is a lug carried by the hub on the rock shaft 32 that carries thefeeder arm 33, or by the rock shaft itself, so that it is cooperablewith said shaft and is adapted to move into a vertical position beneaththe axis of the rock shaft, as indicated in dotted lines Fig. II, in thepath of travel of the spring tongue 54 during reciprocation of the pressplunger. It will be apparent that in the event of the feeder of thepress remaining in the lowered position indicated in dotted lines Fig.II upon the forward movement of the plunger, the spring tongue 54 will,by engagement with the lug 55, act to elevate the feeder before theplunger reaches the feeder head and that consequently said feeder headwill be removed from the path of travel of the plunger, and injurythereto be prevented.

It sometimes happens that the feeder operating mechanism of a balingpress of the type to which my present invention relates is improperlyadjusted in setting up the press preparatory to its use and, as aconsequence, the movement of the feeder is improperly timed relative tothe operation of the plunger, with the result that the feeder is loweredat a time that will cause the member 54 to engage the arm 55 while theplunger is being retracted and, if the member 54 were a rigid one, therewould be a liability of breakage of either the member 54, the member 55,or some weaker part of the press influenced by such engagement. For thisreason I make the member 54 a resilient one in order that it may passbeneath the arm 55, if said arm is in the path of movement of the member54 during the receding stroke of the plunger, it being ap arent that insuch event the member 54 Wi l readily yield downwardly and injury suchas that mentioned will be avoided.

1. In a baling press, a baling box, a plunger, a pitman, power mechanismfor imparting a forward stroke to said pitman and plunger, a leveractuated by said power mechanism and bearing directly against saidpitman for partial retraction thereof, and a loose connection betweensaid lever and pitman for completing the retraction of the pitman andplunger.

2. In a baling press, a baling box, a plunger, a pitman, power mechanismfor imparting a forward stroke to said pitman and plunger, a leveractuated by said power mechanism and bearing directly against saidpitman for partial retraction thereof, and a pull rod connected to saidlever and having loose connection with said pitman whereby theretraction of the pitman and plunger is completed. 3. In a baling press,a baling box, a hopper surmounting said baling box and having an openend, a movable closure for the open end of said hopper providing athree-sided extension of the hopper, a feeder operable in said hopper,and means whereby said closure is automatically operated to diminish theinterior area of said hopper.

4. In a baling press, a baling box, a hopper surmounting said baling boxand having an open end, a movable closure for the open end of the hopperhaving sides straddling the hopper walls, a feeder operable in saidhopper, and means operable by said feeder whereby said closure is movedto contract said hopper.

5. In a baling press, a baling box, a hopper surmounting said baling boxand having an open end, a movable closure for the open end of thehopper, a presser member at the end of the hopper opposite that at whichsaid closure is located, and a feeder operable in said hopper and bywhich said closure and presser member are operated to contract theinterior of said hopper.

6. In a baling press, a baling box, a hopper surmounting said baling boxand having an open end, a movable closure for the open end of thehopper, a rock shaft, a feeder carried by said rock shaft and operablein said hopper, a crank arm on said rock shaft, a pull rod connected tosaid closure, and a lever pivoted to said pull rod and having slot andstud connection with said crank arm, providing for the operation of saidlever to move said closure relative to the hopper.

7 In a baling press, a baling box, and a feeder for delivering materialto said baling box, the feeder comprising an arm and a head yieldablyconnected thereto, said arm having a finger extending at an anglerelative to the body of the arm for controlling the movement of saidhead.

8. In a baling press, a baling box and a feeder for delivering materialto said box, the feeder comprising an arm and a head pivoted to saidarm, said arm having a finger extending at an angle relative to the bodyof the arm for controlling the move ment of said head.

9. In a baling press, a baling box, and a. feeder for deliveringmaterial to said box, the feeder comprising an arm and a springcontrolled head pivoted to said arm, said arm having a finger extendingat an angle relative to the body of the arm controlling the movement ofsaid head.

10. In a baling press, a baling box, a plunger operable in said balingbox, a feeder, and a spring tongue carried by said plunger and adaptedto engage said feeder to move it to an elevated position.

11. In a baling press, a baling box, a plunger operable in said balingbox, a pivotally mounted feeder, means movable around the axis of saidfeeder toward the path of travel of said plunger, and a spring tonguecarried by said plunger adapted to engage said last named means to movethe feeder to an elevated position.

12. In a baling press, a baling box, a plunger operable in said balingbox, a pivotally mounted feeder, an arm movable around the aflixed mysignature, this 19th day of Februaxis of said feeder toward the path oftravel ary 1910. of said plunger, and a spring tongue carried by saldplunger adapted to engage said last HENRY WHITMAN 5 named arm to movethe feeder to an elevated In the presence ofposition. E. B. LINN,

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto A. J. MCOAULEY.

